Olympic gold medalist James DeGale has promised to "stop running my mouth" and prove to his critics he is not "just a silly little idiot" ahead of his second professional fight on Friday.

The 23-year-old Beijing middleweight champion kicked off his career in the paid ranks in a blaze of glory in Birmingham on February 28 but his points victory against Georgian Vepkhia Tchilaia left the crowd cold, leading to booing from a section of the NIA audience.

Londoner DeGale admits his outspoken and cocky exterior, coupled with a difficult first fight against a negative opponent, were probably the main factors behind such a hostile reaction.

Two and a half months after that difficult night, DeGale faces unbeaten Czech Jindrich Kubin in his second professional fight at Belfast's Odyssey Arena on Friday.

He said: "I've experienced a professional fight once now and I know what it's like. Even the entrance, getting in there, wearing no top, the ring lights - everything changes in the big occasion. But I've felt it now and I'm just going to get better and better.

"Don't worry, everyone - I'm not going to be just this silly little idiot who thinks he's 'it', who has been to the Olympics, won a gold medal and come back thinking he's 'it'. That isn't me, trust me.

"That's why I want to try to hold it down a bit; stop all the talking, stop all the chatting, stop running the mouth and prove it to people by doing what I've got to do in the ring."

He added: "In the first fight I learned about the crowd, how they aren't always nice and how the press aren't always nice. So I learned a bit in the ring and also outside the ring."

DeGale will again spearhead a strong undercard for Martin Rogan's Commonwealth heavyweight title defence against Sam Sexton, with fellow amateur stars Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders in action alongside former welterweight world title challenger Michael Jennings.